Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. on Monday said in an interview on MSNBC that he will definitely retry Pedro Hernandez, who was charged with the 1979 murder of Etan Patz.

A prosecutor from Vance's office signaled that there would be a retrial after the jury deadlocked earlier this month, but Vance had not previously made an announcement.

"The Etan Patz case, certainly, I intend to retry the case," he said. "I think it's a case that we believe should be prosecuted, that's why we did. In our system, it happens from time to time that jurors cannot be unanimous, and this was one of those cases."

Detectives return to scene of Patz case
Detectives in New York City have returned to the site of a former grocery store while investigating the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz. The 6-year-old boy was one of the first missing children ever featured on a milk carton. AP video. (Aug. 10)

Six-year-old Etan disappeared in 1979. Hernandez, 54, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, said he strangled the boy in a disputed 2012 confession. The first jury split 11-1 for conviction.